Johnny Mack Brown

Johnny Mack Brown, an outstanding athlete and western movie star, was born in Dothan on September 1, 1904. One of nine children of John Henry and Hattie McGillivray Brown, he grew up in the family home on South Saint Andrews Street. He excelled as an athlete at Dothan High School and became an All-American halfback at the University of Alabama. His performance in Alabama’s 1926 Rose Bowl victory over the University of Washington propelled Alabama into the football spotlight and launched his Hollywood movie career. He made his first film in 1927 and went on to appear in 165 movie productions, including several on television. He acted with Mary Pickford, Mae West, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and others. From 1940 to 1950, he consistently ranked in the top ten in popularity polls of movie stars. He was listed in the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame, Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Alabama Stage and Screenwriters Hall of Fame, and World Cowboy Gun Spinners Hall of Fame, and he received the Golden Boot Award from the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Johnny Mack Brown died in 1974.

Dothan, Alabama · United States